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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Galicia, Terra Chá district of Lugo

San Simón da Costa PDOSan Simón da Costa

Raw or pasteurised whole cow milk is set with rennet and lactococcal starters, cut, pressed in cloth in pear-shaped moulds and brined for up to a day. After at least 45 days of ripening (30 for the small Bufón), the cheese is smoked over barkless birch wood until the rind turns ochre-yellow and oily. Made in 8 steps over 7.1 months. The longest step, keep cold, often vacuum-packed, takes 6 months (Franco I 2023) and runs at 4 °C (Franco I 2023). Salt is 14–17 % (European Commission 2008). Lactococcus lactis starters does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6 monthsMeasured[franco2023]Keep cold, often vacuum-packed
Temperature4 °CMeasured[franco2023]Keep cold, often vacuum-packed
Salt14–17 %Set[ssc-spec2008]Brine
AciditypH 5.8Measured[franco2023]Keep cold, often vacuum-packed

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Large cheeses weigh 0.8–1.5 kg; the small Bufón weighs 0.4–0.8 kg.
Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised · Not standardised; kept at 4 °C or below and used within 48 hours of milking[ssc-spec2008]
Rennet (chymosin and pepsin)[ssc-spec2008]
Lactococcal starter cultures · Native strains are encouraged[ssc-spec2008]
Brine of 14–17 % salt[ssc-spec2008]
Birch wood without bark · For smoking[ssc-spec2008]
Olive oil (optional) · An anti-mould bath before smoking[ssc-spec2008]
Starter: Lactococcus lactis strains (listed as L. lactis, Streptococcus cremoris and S. lactis)

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.1 months

Start
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up to 4 °C

What changes: Starting material: whole milk of Galician Blond, Brown Swiss and Friesian cows

Step 1 of 8
Collect and chill whole milk
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
up to 4 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Streptococcus lactis

If pasteurised, the milk is treated under the EU hygiene rules for food of animal origin.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

San Simón is pressed in cloth into a tall pointed shape and smoked over barkless birch after it has ripened, which gives its glossy ochre rind. Its neighbour Tetilla has the same Galician milk but is unsmoked and softer.

Milk
Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised; the label says which
Paste
Semi-hard, semi-elastic and dense, fine and fatty; at least 55 % dry matter, 45–60 % fat in dry matter, pH 5.0–5.6; a few small eyes
Ripening
At least 45 days (Bufón 30 days), then smoked
Size
Large 0.8–1.5 kg and 13–18 cm high; Bufón 0.4–0.8 kg and 10–13 cm high; shaped between a pear and a bullet, with a pointed top

Related ferments

Variants

  • BufónThe small size, 0.4–0.8 kg and 10–13 cm high, ripened at least 30 days.

Safety

When made from raw milk, this is an uncooked pressed raw-milk cheese. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Comté. The label must say whether the milk was raw or pasteurised.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (risks ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Legend traces the cheese to the Celtic hill-fort people of the Carba and Xistral ranges, and tradition says Romans shipped it to Rome. It was later used to pay rents and tithes to lords and the Church. San Simón da Costa is a parish of Vilalba, where the applicant cheesemakers were based; the PDO was registered in 2008.

  1. [ssc-spec2008] European Commission 2008, Publication of an application, 'San Simón da Costa' ES/PDO/005/0359, summary, Official Journal C 85, 4.4.2008, p. 13; with minor amendments PDO-ES-02218 (2017) on pasteurisation wording and logospec
  2. [franco2023] Franco I., Bargiela V., Tovar C.A. 2023, Effect of vacuum packaging on the biochemical, viscoelastic, and sensory properties of a Spanish cheese during chilled storage, Foods 12(7):1381paper
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov